Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Robert W. Baird in a report released on Wednesday. They presently have a $82.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.38% from the stock’s current price.
Several other research firms also recently issued reports on A. Deutsche Bank upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 12th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 21st. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Agilent Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 20th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.
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NYSE A traded up $1.04 on Wednesday, reaching $78.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,070,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 2.74. Agilent Technologies has a 1 year low of $60.42 and a 1 year high of $78.79. The company has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.33.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 20th. The medical research company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 6.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.
Agilent Technologies announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, November 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.75 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $106,590.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dominique Grau sold 8,902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $658,748.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,650,638. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,607,482.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2,121.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 422 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. JOYN Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 186.6% in the 4th quarter. JOYN Advisors Inc. now owns 470 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. We Are One Seven LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Truehand Inc bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Doyle Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000.
Agilent Technologies Company Profile
Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; laboratory software and information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps; and measurement technologies.
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